


The Teen Shield Agents

by SophieRomanoff97



Series: The Teens [1]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Abuse, Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Anorexia, Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks, Anxiety Disorder, Avengers Family, BAMF Nick Fury, Blood, Blood and Injury, Blood and Violence, Bruce Banner Feels, Bruce Banner Is a Good Bro, Bruce Banner Needs a Hug, Bucky Barnes Feels, Bucky Barnes Is a Good Bro, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Bulimia, Child Abuse, Child Neglect, Childhood Friends, Childhood Sexual Abuse, Childhood Sweethearts, Clint Barton Feels, Clint Barton Is a Good Bro, Clint Barton Needs a Hug, Depression, Dissociation, Dissociative Identity Disorder, Domestic Avengers, Domestic Violence, Eating Disorders, F/F, F/M, Flashbacks, Grant Ward Feels, Jemma Simmons Needs a Hug, Kid Avengers, Kid Fic, Leo Fitz Feels, Leo Needs a Hug, M/M, Natasha Romanov Feels, Natasha Romanov Is a Good Bro, Natasha Romanov Needs a Hug, Nick Fury Knows All, Nightmares, Panic Attacks, Parent Melinda May, Parent Nick Fury, Parent Phil Coulson, Parent/Child Incest, Past Rape/Non-con, Phil Coulson Has the Patience of a Saint, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Avengers, Protective Bruce Banner, Protective Bucky Barnes, Protective Clint Barton, Protective Melinda May, Protective Natasha Romanov, Protective Nick Fury, Protective Phil Coulson, Protective Steve Rogers, Protective Thor (Marvel), Protective Tony Stark, Rape, Rape Aftermath, Rape Recovery, Rape/Non-con Elements, Recovery, Self-Harm, Sexual Abuse, Sexual Slavery, Sexual Violence, Skye | Daisy Johnson Feels, Skye | Daisy Johnson Needs a Hug, Starvation, Steve Rogers Feels, Steve Rogers Needs a Hug, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt, Teenagers, Therapy, Thor (Marvel) Feels, Thor (Marvel) Needs a Hug, Thor (Marvel) is a Good Bro, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Is a Good Bro, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Violence, teen shield kids
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-02
Updated: 2019-03-08
Packaged: 2019-05-17 10:56:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 8
Words: 6,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14830973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SophieRomanoff97/pseuds/SophieRomanoff97
Summary: Agents of Shield High School AU with Skye, Leo, Jemma and Grant as teenagers. Also featuring Foster parents Phil, Nick Fury and Melinda May. Also featuring teen Natasha, Bucky, Steve, Bruce, Tony, Thor and Clint.This is the life of our teen Shield agents as they deal with abuse, death, self-harm and a whole bunch of other stuff.Some fluff, some angst, some very dark themes so heed warnings.Other than that, enjoy!This is a partner fic to 'The Teen Avengers' and it is pretty important you read that first.





	1. Phil's family (6)

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone. This is a partner fic to 'The Teen Avengers' and since to other one focuses mainly on the Avengers characters, I thought it best to start a new fic for the Shield characters. They will all interact at some point and I'm not sure if I'll include that in this fic, the other one or if I'll start a new one. Anyway enjoy.

"Breakfast time!" Phil yelled up the stairs, joining his wife in the kitchen.

They were growing kids and they ate a lot so the table was full of food.

Pancakes, syrups, juice and fruit because they were trying to get them to eat more healthy. 

Soon enough four sets of footsteps sounded down the stairs as they all crowded in to get to the table.

"Easy, kids, there's enough for everyone." Melinda hummed, handing out plates.

They all sat down and picked out what they wanted to eat.

Phil noticed that Skye's plate only held the fruit they'd put out.

So it was one of those days.

"Here, Skye, do you want a pancake? They're just plain and we used almond milk in the batter." Melinda asked quietly. 

The dark haired girl shrugged and looked down at her plate. "No thanks." 

"Do you remember what the nutritionist said? You have to have a good breakfast so you can have energy for the day." Coulson looked at her.

"I remember. I'm just not hungry." she stabbed her fork into a piece of fruit and pushed it around her plate.

Phil sighed. "Okay. At least have some juice for now." 

They had a deal that as long as she had enough calories throughout the day they wouldn't have to get the doctors involved again. She wouldn't have to go to day hospital, where all her meals were their choice and she would have to sit there until it was all gone. They wouldn't have to admit her into a unit. She wouldn't need another feeding tube.

They all made their own lunches, chose their food, the only difference was that Skye had to eat her snacks and lunch in the office. 

"Okay." she mumbled, reaching for the pitcher of OJ.

Finding that acceptable for the moment, Phil started up a conversation with them, reminding them of their appointments for the day.

They all had talking therapy, Grant had anger management classes, Leo had music therapy, Jemma had art therapy and Skye had animal therapy, on top of her appointment with her nutritionist.

Their appointments were all spread out on different days so it got hard for them to keep track sometimes.

"I'll meet you all outside at half three and I'll drive Leo and Jemma to their therapies and we'll come back for dinner. The rest of the night is yours, if you want to go out remember I need the address and phone number."

"Yes Sir." Grant murmured, pushing his plate away and standing.

"Easy on the sir, Grant, you're not in class."

The boy bobbed his head. "Sorry."

"No need to be."

"Are your bags all ready?"

Specifically that meant did Leo have his fidget toys and headphones, did Jemma have her notebook and pencils, did Grant have his stress ball, did Skye have her two snacks.

They all nodded and began to stand to gather their stuff for school.

After parking in their usual spot, the kids all began clambering out. "Jemma, Leo, Grant, I'll see you after school. Skye, I'll see you at break time." 

The girl sighed and nodded, pulling her hood up as she left the car.

Some days were hard with four troubled kids, but Phil and Melinda never regretted their decision to foster.

They couldn't have their own kids, so at least this way they were giving back something to the kids who needed help.

All of them had been either abused or neglected.

They were the kids May and Coulson chose. The older ones that were stuck in the system, troubled kids that no one else wanted.

They came from all over, but had someway found their way into their lives.

Jemma came from England, Leo from Scotland, Grant and Skye from different places in America.

They had searched for almost two years before finding the right kids to join their home.

Skye had been nine, the youngest and first they’d brought home. She'd been in hospital, feeding tube up her nose. Her father had left and her mother had neglected her to the point of starvation. Her eating disorder started out with the fact she simply wasn't given food. But as her body healed from the neglect, her thoughts had darkened and she no longer wanted to eat at all. They were still trying to work it out in therapy why. 

Grant had been in juvenile detention, only twelve when they'd found him. His mother and father had abused him so much he had seen no other way out and had lit the house on fire with him inside. He hadn't realised his brother had also been there and he'd been hurt enough by the smoke to require hospitalisation. He'd been charged with attempted murder but it had been dropped to arson when his brother woke up and told them what their parents had done. He'd been too young to take care of Grant when their parents were arrested so he'd come to May and Coulson. His brother visited every month.

Leo they'd found after he'd been in hospital for almost a week following a brutal beating that had left him in a coma for three days. He'd been eleven. He was on the autistic spectrum and his father had been so disappointed that he had an 'idiot' as a son and had taken to beating him when he couldn't make eye contact or continue a conversation. His parents were also in jail.

Jemma had been found only a year earlier, twelve years old. In a situation not unlike Natasha's, she'd been found when the police raided their home for drugs. She been half unconscious and in the middle of being raped by her father when the police busted the door down.

So yes, they were all...troubled, but it was worth every argument, every tantrum, every sleepless night to see them smiling and getting healthy.

Melinda kissed Phil gently, squeezing his hand. "See you later."

"Not if I see you first."


	2. School times (7)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiya everyone! Not entirely sure where this chapter is going so I'm just making it up as I go along. Please pay attention to the trigger warnings and tread carefully. Thank you all for the support.

The morning went well. Coulson had a meeting with Fury and after work talk was out of the way, they got onto the kids. 

Coulson explained that he worried Skye was getting worse, that she wasn't eating a lot and she was withdrawing to a degree that threatened something worse to come.

Fury told him about the police dropping by and the news that Natasha's father was dead. That she wasn't speaking much and hid away in her room. 

"Maybe we could have a dinner sometime. Us and Melinda, all the kids. It'll be good for them to realise they're not alone." Coulson shrugged.

"That's a good idea." Fury hummed, "Thursday is the only day without any therapies."

"We can figure it out later. Sounds good though. I'll cook, it's easier to get Skye to eat somewhere she knows."

"Of course." He smiled, tidying away all the paperwork. 

"I'll check in at the end of the day." Phil hummed, pushing back his chair.

The morning may have gone well but the afternoon certainly did not.

Leo was in a special ed class because when he got overwhelmed, he could shut down or get angry and the teachers in that class were well equipped to handle it.

He'd been sent to the office not long before break time. The teacher had asked him a question and he'd gotten it wrong. A couple kids had laughed and Leo had shut down.

He'd started off crying, but it had escalated quickly to banging his head on the desk.

When the teacher had tried to stop him, he'd tipped over his desk and had thrown his books and pencils across the floor. 

The teacher was good and had gotten him out the room and away from the other kids.

The anger quickly faded into upset, and she'd gently led him to Coulson's office. 

He was sitting across from Phil now, twiddling his tangle, little plastic pieces that fit together that he could break apart and twist.

Getting the question wrong had triggered the fight or flight instinct inside him, questions wrong used to mean getting hit, and he hadn't been able to realise no one there would hurt him.

A couple of tissues, a chocolate bar and some talking later, Leo had calmed down some. 

He wasn't ready to go back to class so they arranged for his work to be brought to the office.

Coulson had a couple of classes so one of the other teachers would sit in there with him.

Other than Phil, Leo was better around females so Miss Hill, a close friend to Phil, just happened to be able to sit in.

Before class, it was break time, and Skye was knocking on the door. 

"Hey, monkey." She said softly, taking in the tear tracks down his cheeks and red eyes. 

"Rough day, huh? That's okay. We all have those." She sat next to him, pulling out her protein bar and taking a bite.

Leo shrugged and sniffled.

"When we get home, we can put the nature channel and get your crafting stuff out. We need to carry on making that scrapbook." Skye smiled, avoiding Phil's eyes as she took another reluctant bite. 

Her stomach hurt, hunger gnawing at her insides. The bar barely filled a corner, but it was a start.

Skye cared about others way more than she cared about herself. She would neglect herself to the point it could be dangerous but if someone else was upset, she was all over it.

They sat in silence until the bell rang, Skye grabbing her bag to head to class. 

She'd eaten with minimal fuss and Coulson was very proud of her for that.

"I'll see you at lunch." He smiled at her before kneeling in front of Leo.

"Okay, bud. I have to get to class but Miss Hill is gonna sit in here and help you with your work. Remember, this isn't a punishment. It's just so you can have some time to work and feel better without other kids in the way. Yeah?" 

Leo nodded slightly. "Music?" 

"Of course you can listen to music. You have your headphones, right?"

Another soft nod.

"Okay, I'll be back soon." He squeezed his shoulder.

He hoped the rest of the afternoon would be smooth sailing, and even if it wasn't, they could figure it out.

They always did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment if you enjoyed <3


	3. Evening (8)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone. Sorry uploading is so sporadic, it's too much pressure to have a certain day I need to upload on. Thanks for sticking with me. Enjoy and read the tw's before moving forward. Thank you.

After therapies were done, the four kids and May and Coulson sat down for dinner.

It was better for Skye to know in advance what dinner was, so they had set meals for set days of the week.

Tonight was spaghetti, and everyone seemed to love it.

It was actually one of Skye's favourites but she more pushed the food around than ate any of it.

Phil and Melinda exchanged looks as the others engaged in general conversation.

Leo was still quiet and withdrawn. They didn't like distractions at the dinner table, but his headphones had been allowed so a meltdown didn't occur.

Phil cleared his throat. "Skye, you don't like it?"

"It's fine." The girl mumbled, shrugging her shoulders. She still had yet to take a bite.

"Would you prefer something else?"

Everything they put in front of her was calorie counted and by now they had it down. They could switch out foods that were the same calories with little thought.

"There's bread for sandwiches, ice cream if you'd prefer something sweet." Melinda said softly.

"Its fine." Skye ground out, knuckles white as they clutched the fork in her hand.

"Then please will you try to eat some of it?" Phil asked softly.

"After, we can make cupcakes. I know Leo would really enjoy that." 

Skye glanced at her foster sibling, tapping his foot under the table and scooping spaghetti into his mouth.

"But we can't do that until you've all eaten dinner." 

Phil hated using the other kids as an excuse for her to eat. But she would do anything for her foster siblings. 

"Okay." Skye sighed, slowly starting to take tentative bites of the food.

The others finished a lot sooner than Skye and all dispersed to do their own things.

Melinda stayed with Skye, chatting with her to distract her from the food and the thoughts she was having.

After another half hour, a big chunk of dinner had been eaten. As long as she had her night snack and one of the calorie drinks, it was acceptable.

"Help me clean up?" May asked, standing.

It was also important that for half an hour after eating, Skye wasn't left alone.

She had a habit of eating just to please everyone, and then throwing it all up as soon as she'd done.

Skye nodded and they washed dishes in silence for a couple of minutes.

Melinda was starting to think the day would have a good end when the sound of shouts and things breaking sounded from upstairs.

Grant.

Melinda quickly ushered Skye into the living room, instructing her to sit with Jemma and Leo and keep them calm before taking off upstairs, Phil already in front of her.

Sometimes the smallest things could set the kids off.

The pair knocked once on Grant's door before pushing it open. There was a reason they didn't have locks.

Grant was sitting in the middle of chaos, screaming into his palms, rocking on his heels.

"Grant-" Phil said loudly, taking a step towards the boy.

"Don't. Fucking. Touch. Me." He growled, eyes wild as he looked up at them. 

He stood in one fluid motion and stepped towards them, hands clenched into fists.

"Grant, it's us. You're safe. We won't hurt you." Melinda held her hands up.

Grant could get very angry. It was born from suppressing other emotions and would just come out in the only way he knew.

Violence. Like his mother and father had inflicted on him.

"What if I want to hurt you?'' Grant growled, taking another step closer.

It had been scary at first. But he would never want to hurt them. Not on purpose.

"You don't." Phil said softly. "You don't want to hurt us, Grant." 

"You're safe. We won't hurt you." Melinda shook her head.

Grant stumbled to a stop, eyes clouded.

"It's us. We're your family." Phil held out a hand.

Tears rolled down the boys face. He shuddered and whimpered, head dropping into his hands.

The two moved closer, touching his arms to ground him. "You're safe." They repeated.

Back downstairs, Jemma and Skye were trying to calm Leo down.

He'd heard the noise even with his headphones.

Loud noises were not good for any of the kids. The two girls could hide how it affected them better than Leo could.

They would have issues later on in the day with what had happened, but for Leo the problems happened right there and then.

The boy had his hands fisted in his hair as he rocked back and forth, crying and trying to catch his breath.

"You're okay. You're okay, monkey. We're here. We promise." Skye rubbed a hand up and down his back.

Jemma sniffled and petted the boys hair, lower lip trembling.

More upsetting that the noise upstairs for her, was seeing her best friend in the world so frantic.

"You're okay, monkey. Take a deep breath. You're not there anymore. You're here with us and no one will hurt you." Skye wrapped an arm around his shoulder and rubbed up and down his arm.

The three came down from upstairs and Melinda took one look at Leo and rushed right over.

Phil directed Grant over to the sofa, where the boy sat with his hands balled up to his chest.

Skye changed places with May, heading over to the older boy whilst Melinda helped Leo control his breathing.

"Hey, Grant." Skye said softly, sitting beside him and nudging his shoulder.

"What happened up there?"

Grant tended to not be good at articulating what brought on the anger episodes. With Skye, it was like they had a special connection. Like Leo with Jemma.

"Things...were in the wrong places. And...and they need to be in the right places or...or people will get angry and...and I'll be hurt." He stammered, shaking all over.

"I understand what that's like." Skye said softly. "But no one here will hurt you. Making a little mess is what we teenagers do. It's not a problem here."

"I...I know that. It just...It Just happens. It comes out. I can't help it." 

His fingers opened and closed around the stressball in his grasp.

"That's what we're learning to do. Control these things. It will take time." The girl shrugged. 

"I know." The boy sighed, shoulders loosening just a little bit. 

"It'll come. May and Coulson, they'll help us figure it out." The girl said quietly.

"For now, why don't we make cupcakes?" Coulson asked, arm around Leo's shoulder, the boy calmer now.

Cupcakes sounded pretty good to all of them after the day they'd all had.

One thing at a time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment if you enjoyed <3


	4. PLEASE READ

Hey guys. Not a new chapter but an update. Go ahead and read The Teens Intertwined to read the next part of this story. (I know it's kinda confusing but I didn't know which story to add these chapters into.) This part of the work will be for when the shield group and avengers group come together. There will still be separate chapters for both so make sure you keep an eye out on all three. I'm going to go back and label all chapters on all stories with numbers. These are gonna be the way you should read them in order. Hope that makes sense. Lots of love <3


	5. Phil and Melinda (14)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! New chapter coming today, hope you enjoy. Please excuse any mistakes or odd words, brain fog is powerful af today but I'm powering through to bring you a new chapter.

When Melinda pulled up beside Phil as he waited outside the hospital, she got out of the car and walked around to him.

She silently opened her arms and he closed the distance, exhaling shakily as he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close.

A gentle hand stroked through his hair as he pulled back a little. 

"How is she?" 

"They don't...they don't know. She's in surgery. Alive at least." He shook his head.

Melinda nodded and squeezed his hand. "She's strong."

"I know, that's what I told the boys." He sighed. "I thought I'd be waiting there all day, but it wasn't my place. I need to get back to school. There I can help."

Melinda hummed. "If you're sure." She squeezed his hand and stepped back to get into the car.

He had to be sure. It was his job.

...

The rest of the school day dragged. 

He didn't have any classes with his kids that afternoon, and whilst their teachers reassured him they were fine, he wouldn't stop worrying until he saw them.

When it was almost time to go, Phil got a message.

"Natasha is out of surgery, still not well but out of danger. Will update you later. Thank you for your help. Nick'

Phil exhaled and as the bell rang, he quickly packed his stuff and headed to Melinda's car. 

Skye was already waiting as he got there and he silently pulled her into his arms.

She flushed and laughed but hugged him tight. "What's this for?"

"For being safe." He said quietly, stepping back.

"Phil..." Skye frowned. "What's going on?" Her eyes widened. "Oh god...You're upset. Why are you...are you sending me back?" She whispered.

"No! No, god Skye. Never." He crouched a little, taking her hand. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you, today has been a long day. I need to have a talk with everyone tonight. But don't worry, you're not in trouble."

A dubious nod of the head. "Okay."

Then Melinda was walking over, Jemma and Leo trailing behind.

Phil smiled and opened the doors, after giving them a hug each too.

"So," Phil murmured as he got into the passenger side, "You're all free to go out tonight, as usual, but we are having a family dinner together first."

"We we're going to go to Mack's house." Jemma said softly.

"And you still can, just a little later. We'll have an early dinner so the rest of the night is yours." 

"He has new cars." Leo whispered, biting his lip as he looked up from his tangle. "He said we could play with them."

"That sounds like a lot of fun, bud." Phil smiled.

When the last member of their family was there, Melinda made sure all belts were buckled.

Grant crossed his arms over his chest, eyes wary.

"Is it true you left school to go to the hospital?" He'd directed this at Phil and the man fought back a sigh. He had been hoping to wait until they got home.

"Yes. And no, I'm not sick, Melinda isn't sick, we're okay."

"It doesn't sound okay." Skye frowned. 

"Hospital is bad." Leo whispered, absently chewing on the corner of his tangle toy.

"Hospitals can be a good thing. They help people get better." Melinda glanced back in the mirror. 

"But why were you there if you're not sick?" Grant pointed out.

"Because...a friend needed some help." Phil said softly. 

"Is your friend okay?" Jemma asked nervously.

"Yes." Phil said. "Yes, she will be."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short I know but short is better than nothing right


	6. The talk (16)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Enjoy. Always heed the Tw's.

They managed to get home without a barrage of more questions and as they pulled into the driveway, Phil told the kids to get started on their homework.

Jemma and Leo took the living room, laying on the floor as they started their class reading.

Grant went straight to his room.

Skye sat at the breakfast island, papers spread out around her as she ate the pot of dried fruit and nuts she always had as her afternoon snack.

Phil decided simple for dinner was best and Melinda moved around him, taking stuff out the freezers and putting it all in the slow cooker.

That way they didn't have to spend much time in the kitchen but they'd all have a nice, warm meal at the end of it.

"Hey, AC, can you help me with this math question?" Skye asked, pushing the empty bowl across the counter.

It had been hard work to get Skye to call him anything but Sir. She'd slowly came around to calling him Coulson, then Phil.

AC had come from Phil's interactions with Fury. She'd said that Nick spoke to him sometimes like he was an agent and not a teacher.

Phil had laughed and said it came from his time in the army but it had been an inside joke from there on.

Skye called him AC when she was comfortable and he couldn't even find it in him to be annoyed.

"Ah, here, this is what you do-"

Thirty minutes and finished math homework later, Skye sat across from Melinda as they split a cookie.

As they ate, they spoke about their day.

Coulson smiled as he leaned against the doorway after checking on the other kids.

He was very proud to see Skye eating something not on her list, something out of routine.

But they had to act like it wasn't a big deal, even though it really kind of was.

Phil checked on the food, calling the kids to come set the table as he plated up warm chilli for everyone.

Sat at the table, as everyone started to eat, Phil started the difficult conversation.

"So, I know I owe an explanation for why I was at the hospital. I won't say names, that's not my place, and please no guessing." A slight pause.

"I had to take some students to the hospital to meet their friend. This student was...self harming and it accidentally went too far and an ambulance had to be called. The student had surgery and is in recovery, but we do need to talk about this."

Skye had stopped eating, pushing the food around her plate.

Grant balled his hands into fists under the table, steadfastly not meeting anyone's gaze.

Leo was the only one still eating, kicking his legs a little as he scooped up chilli.

Jemma was quiet, sipping from her water glass.

"I know it's not a comfortable thing to talk about, and I'm not telling any of you to talk right now, in front of everyone." Melinda said quietly.

"But if anyone at this table is self harming or thinking about it, I want you to know that you can come to me and Melinda. We can help. It's never nothing, okay? It's never harmless. It's important we talk about it. But you don't have to be ashamed or guilty, we understand." Coulson looked around the table before slowly starting to eat again.

Eventually the others followed suit and Melinda ended the conversation with a soft 'you can come to us for anything, kids, always believe that'.

Phil smiled, squeezing her hand.

When dinner had been eaten, Skye and Grant cleared the plates and Leo and Jemma folded the tablecloth.

When everything had been put away, the kids headed to do their own things for the night.

Leo and Jemma got picked up by Mack's dad to go to his house for the evening.

Grant left with some friends, football tucked under his arm.

That left Skye.

She would usually spend her time in her room, doing more homework or reading or doing something crafty.

Instead, as Melinda and Phil sat on the sofa, marking papers, Skye sat on the armchair in front of the tv.

"Can I join you?" She asked, nervous.

Phil smiled and Melinda nodded. 

"Of course. Would you like to choose something to watch?" Melinda hummed.

Hours passed and Skye didn't talk much but as the three of them sat, cradling hot chocolate and laughing at the tv, the parents exchanged glances.

Skye may not be ready to talk to them, but the evening had gone very well and it seemed like the girl was working up to opening up to them, and that was more than they had thought possible a few months previous. 

Mel's eyes were a little watery as she sat back, Phil's arm around her shoulders.

Phil understood. 

Skye was very closed off most of the time and to have her sitting there, making jokes and enjoying the show, drinking hot chocolate when she was so afraid of drinking calories was...it was wonderful.

Maybe things were looking up.


	7. Gone (20)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Just a reminder that half of this whole universe I have going on is over at The Teen Avengers and The Teens Intertwined. Some things are going to happen soon that mean we finally get our kids meeting each other so stay tuned for that because it will be happening over at one of the other fics. 
> 
> Anyways this chapter is where things start getting...not so good for this group. Sorry? But hey, it can't always be good. I hope you enjoy and please make sure you read the triggers in the tags before reading any of this.

Melinda wasn't exactly sure what had woken her up and was almost drifting back to sleep when it happened again.

Sitting upright in bed, the woman glanced at the bedside clock. It was almost five am and she'd usually have at least another hour left to sleep but now she was wide awake.

She carefully got out of the bed without disrupting Phil, padding out into the hall.

She figured she'd just check in on the kids to calm her nerves before heading downstairs to get some chores done before the house began to wake up.

Phil and Melinda had first gotten a bigger house than the pair needed because they expected to have children sometime in the future. Years later, they'd almost packed up and moved somewhere smaller but something had held them back. And now they had a full house with all rooms filled. They'd even turned one of the offices into a bedroom when Jemma had joined them.

Stepping to each room was second nature, since Melinda found herself checking on them probably more than was healthy but she couldn't help it.

They'd been fine every time she checked, but this time something was different. Something was wrong.

She looked in on Jemma, Leo and Skye, all asleep in their beds. Her stomach twisted uncomfortably as she pushed open Grant's door.

It was empty.

The bed was made up all neat and perfect and it was clear it hadn't been slept in.

Half of Melinda's mind was screaming that that didn't make sense, because she'd said goodnight to Grant and watched him go up to his bedroom the night before.

She wasn't panicking just yet because he might have just not been able to sleep, in which case he'd be downstairs so he could watch tv without disrupting them. Either that, or he was already up for the day like she was.

She checked the bathrooms next, just to make sure, but they were both empty too.

She prayed in her head as she walked down the stairs that she'd find the tv on low, Grant asleep across the couch or doing homework under the dim light.

Melinda knew before she'd even gotten halfway down the stairs that Grant wasn't down there.

She checked anyway, turning in lights and moving through every room of the house.

Empty.

Now fully panicking, she was on her way up the stairs to tell Phil when she saw the note on the front door.

Dread filling her, she walked to it and pulled it from the frame.

'Coulson and May, I'm sorry if you see this and worry, I'm okay though. It's just best I leave now before I get even more comfortable only for you to send me back for someone younger. Either that, or before I end up hurting one of you. I couldn't deal with that, not again. Please tell Skye I'm sorry, and the kids too. Thank you for everything you did for me.

Grant'

Fingers trembling as they clutched the paper, Melinda ran up the stairs two at a time, pushing open their bedroom door.

"Phil, wake up-" she shook the man lightly but firmly until sat up, rubbing a hand over his face.

"Mel?" He murmured.

"Grant's gone. He left a note and his backpack is gone too." Melinda's eyes were damp with unshed tears, wide with panic.

That seemed to wake Phil up as he reached for the note in her hands, swinging his legs off the side of the bed to turn on the lamp.

His mouth moved as he read over the words, swallowing thickly when done.

Foster kids ran away, they'd known that from the very beginning, but they had somehow managed to avoid any of their kids doing that.

They'd been expecting it, yes, but at the beginning. During the first couple of months, not over two years into his being with them.

The reasons he'd stated for running away had both parents rattled; he was doing it so they wouldn't give him away or so he wouldn't hurt them.

Coulson dragged his eyes away from the page and up to Melinda's waiting gaze. 

"Okay," he said quietly, "I'll call Christian, see if he's gone there. If not, we'll have to call the police."

Melinda nodded, throat feeling tight as she spoke next, "what about the kids? Skye?"

A glance at the clock told him that it still wasn't really an acceptable time for them to get up ready for school.

Now they were faced with the dilemma of waking the kids before schedule to tell them Grant was gone, even though there was nothing they could do to help or letting them sleep until their alarms went off, and still having to tell them.

"Give it half an hour. I'll call Christian." Phil sighed, squeezing Melinda's hand as he got to his feet.

"I'll make a list of his friends and as soon as it's late enough, I'll call round." She said quietly.

Phil tried to smile. "Want me to make the call to the police?"

"Would you?" The woman exhaled, hastily rubbing a hand over her eyes.

"We'll find him." Phil said firmly as he stepped towards his wife, kneeling so he could look at her as he spoke. "We'll bring him home." 

"God, Phil, we have to."


	8. Telling the kids (21)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys. I know it's been a while, I'm sorry. This chapter is short but I felt something was better than nothing at this stage. Hope you enjoy <3

Calling Christian proved unfruitful, not that Coulson had expected much. Grant's brother was almost two hours away by car and Grant hadn't been gone anywhere near long enough to have completed the walk.

Phil told Christian to call him if the teenager showed up and that he himself would be calling to update whenever they had any information.

Phil met Melinda back in their bedroom, where she was looking just as dejected. After multiple phones ringing through because of the early hour, she'd only gotten through to a couple of Grant's friends parents. They hadn't seen anything.

After leaving messages on the phones that hadn't been answered, Melinda hung up, cradling her phone.

She looked up as Phil came in, her expression dropping even more. "Nothing?" She asked quietly.

"He hasn't seen him," Phil rubbed a hand over his face, "I'll call the police now but it's best the kids know about this before they turn up."

Melinda exhaled, nodding, glad to have something to do. "I'll go talk to them." She slowly got to her feet, squeezing Phil's hand as she walked past him.

It was still early but it wasn't far off the time she would usually be making the rounds for them to start getting up.

She went first to Jemma, the girl already sitting up, the bedside table lamp on and a book about thermodynamics in her hands.

"Morning, sweetheart." Melinda said softly, sitting next to her feet on the bed. "I have something we need to talk about, will you go get Leo and come into Skye's room?"

Jemma carefully closed her book, sitting further up in the bed. "What's wrong?" Her small face was already pinched with worry, her eyes wide and watching.

"I'd rather talk about it with the others, okay? Just get Leo and then we can talk about it." She tenderly brushed a fly away brown hair from Jemma's cheek.

The girl looked abjectly frightened but she nodded and pulled back her covers. "I'll get him." She said softly.

"Thank you, darling." Melinda offered a smile as the girl, clutching a white bunny in hand, stepped from the room.

Blowing out a breath, Melinda got up from the bed and headed down the hall to Skye's room.

She carefully flicked on the overhead light, knowing that was one of the best ways to get Skye up without scaring or startling her too much.

She then walked over and pulled back the curtains, letting even more light into the room.

The girl on the bed grumbled and poked her head out from the covers.

"Don't wanna." Skye mumbled, dragging a hand over her eyes.

"I know," Melinda smiled, like it was any other morning. Except it wasn't and her smile dropped.

Leo and Jemma stood in the doorway, the former having his fingers clenched around a raggedy stuffed monkey.

Skye heard the soft footfalls and lifted her head, blinking over at the doorway. "Hiya monkeys, what's this about?"

"We need to talk," Melinda said softly, gesturing for the pair to come in from the hall.

They sat on Skye's bed, with the older girl properly sitting up. Her face had paled considerably and her thumb went up to her mouth, where she began to chew on the digit.

Melinda carefully pulled her hand back down from her mouth, holding it in hers.

Skye watched the movement with watery eyes, already close to tears. "You're sending me away? Or all of us away?" She whispered.

Leo whimpered from behind his monkey and Jemma immediately wrapped an arm around him, tugging him close. She pressed a kiss to his hair, her own wide eyes looking over to Melinda.

"No," the woman said immediately, "absolutely not. That is never going to happen. Never." She said firmly but kindly, eyes gazing around the three kids.

Skye exhaled shakily, the fingers of her free hand clenched around the covers of the bed.

Jemma seemed to relax a little, surely nothing could be as bad as her being sent back there. "If we're talking, shouldn't we wait for Grant?"

Skye, watching Melinda, saw the slight stiffening ofher shoulders.

The girl closed her eyes. "Its about him, isn't it?" Those brown eyes opened again, "look, if he's done something...if he's broken something or...or said something, we can fix it. We can always fix it, he didn't mean to-"

"Skye, Jemma, Leo," Melinda started softly, "I want you to know that we are going to fix this and I know it's going to be scary and upsetting." She took a measured breath. "Grant has...Grant's ran away."

**Author's Note:**

> Please go read my other fic if you haven't. Other than that, I hope I did okay. I'd love some comments. Thank you for reading. Lots of love <3


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